Growing Pains
There was always that one kid in school. You know who I’m talking about. He’s the guy that was like 5ft 6in when school let out and when you came back from summer break he was 6ft 5in. He hit an incredible growth spurt. The thing about those people is, it takes them a while to get their bearings. They’re usually a little uncoordinated and stumble around. There’s some difficulty that accompanies fast growth. Not only that, but you probably remember, like I do, the pain behind your legs while you were amidst a growth spurt.
What we see in our text today are growing pains of that first church. They had just skyrocketed in terms of people coming into the Church, and what once was able to function smoothly now left people upset, neglected, and complaining.
Though this was an apostle-led church, there are parallels we can draw for our church today and moving into the future.
1) Challenges accompany growth. (1)
The church does incredible work in the world. The world is a better place when the church lives out its faith. One thing we are called to do as Christians is to look after orphans and widows in their distress. James, the brother of Jesus, ended up telling us that in his letter, in James 1:27. He also ended up being the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He was certainly a part of the church when this issue arose that caused this harsh complaint. He was a part of that first 120 people that made up the church.[1] Now the church was well over 10,000. There’s no telling, at this point, how many people are a part of it. For certain, there’s too many for 12 apostles to oversee. That’s part of why this issue arose. Challenges accompany growth.
We saw last week the pressure that comes from the outside against the church. When Satan can’t destroy the church from outside influences, he seeks to do it from within. That’s what we see here.
Satan seeks to sow seeds of division through complaints and prejudices. (1)
The Hellenist widows were complaining because they were being discriminated against compared to the Hebrew widows. They were being overlooked at the daily distribution. Hellenists were Greek-speaking Jews. They were Jews who were born abroad—Diaspora Jews. Many people, when they were near their death would travel back to Jerusalem to die there in that holy land. This would leave a disproportionate amount of Hellenist widows left in Jerusalem.[2] The Hebrew Jews looked down on the Hellenist Jews, though, because they viewed them as less pure as themselves. Let’s make some personal application here.
What happens when we (First Baptist Portland) grow? We already are, by the way. When we grow, new people come in. New people with new cultural experiences and new preferences that may or may not line up with our own. Do we embrace the growth and praise God that more and more are being added to the heavenly roster and the church roster? Or do we complain because things aren’t as they used to be? Do we live in the past of the glory days, or do we embrace the God-given growth of the church into the future?
Some complaints are merited. Some aren’t. Most of the time our complaints stem from personal preferences. We have a felt need that isn’t being met, so we complain. It could be from an unmet expectation like “the pastor didn’t visit me.” Or it could be from something we think we could do better or would do differently if it was up to us. It could be something merited, like theirs is in our text. Whatever the complaint, let me encourage you with this—rather than complain, lovingly be a part of the solution.
The prejudices we experience come from the diversity of people that make up the church. Unity is of utmost importance in the church, practically and biblically.[3] But remember, unity does not mean uniformity. Unity exists amidst differences—differences in cultures, differences in ethnicities, differences in ages, differences in preferences. Prejudice exists when we seek uniformity by the means of exclusion. That means when the younger crowd only wants their preferences at the exclusion of the older crowd, prejudice exists. It also means when the older crowd complains and is upset that the younger crowd’s preferences aren’t how they like things, prejudice exists. There is no unity where prejudice exists.
This challenge to the early church’s growth had the potential to make it collapse. When churches have closed their doors it most often has started from complaints and prejudices within. The people of the church lose sight of their calling and mission. They make it about themselves, so they don’t reach people on the outside. That’s the perfect recipe to kill a church. That’s not what happened to this early church, though. They handled things perfectly, and this should be the model for ourselves.
2) Prioritize what is most important to your God-given calling. (2)
What we see in this passage is a prioritization of what’s important. Providing for widows matters. The apostles knew it. When they say, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables,” they aren’t saying that serving tables is unimportant. They are saying that the ministry of the word is of utmost importance. They’re actually showing that serving widows is important by the fact that they set up people and a system to do it more effectively, which we’ll get to in a minute.
These apostles were ministers of the Word. They were teaching God’s Word from the Old Testament in the synagogue and in homes. They were also writing God’s Word. Their ministry of the Word is so important that it has led to you being able to know Jesus and the only way to salvation through Him. It is only by the writing of the apostles—their ministry of the Word—that you are able to read God’s completed Word and know how to be saved.
That’s why God’s Word is so important for the church today as well. It is only by God’s Word that we can know Him and know how to live for Him. So, here are some practical things we can see about how we should function as a church in order to rightly prioritize.
Gospel leaders should labor in prayer, preparation, and preaching. (4)
These are the three components we see the apostles say they need to delegate other areas so that they can focus on. I would say that it’s the same thing for a pastor. Without prayer and the ministry of the Word, there is no growth. Do you know why? Because it is God who brings the growth.[4] Prayer is reliance on God in everything. It is not just telling Him our desires and needs, but it is entrusting Him with every moment, every person, every endeavor, and every outcome. Reliance on God’s Word is trusting that it is His words that save and convict and lead to repentance, not our own.
Faithful ministry of the Word consists of both preparation and preaching. You shouldn’t trust any pastor who doesn’t prepare to preach. The Apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor, Timothy, and said this about his calling:
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”[5]
I saw two posts this week that had to do with this. The first is a picture of an iceberg. What you see on top is just the sermon. There’s a whole lot more to it than just what you see. The second is a social media post from a great pastor, Eric Mason. He is studying for preaching through the book of Hebrews. I love what he says:
“Right now I’m taking my people through Hebrews. Exegetically it has to be the most difficult book of the Bible ever preached thru. In addition it’s a bear to interpret and apply to people in most of the book. It’s a ton of work but the time in pays dividends. I love the gospel/Holy Spirit kitchen readying the meal for the flock.”
I can completely relate to him. It is a joy to labor in understanding a text to feed God’s people. The ministry of the Word is so central and essential to a healthy, growing church, that nothing should stand in its way. It doesn’t mean that other things don’t matter, though. They do. That’s why the apostles delegated the serving of widows. And in this serving, we see the first deacons.
Deacons should serve. (3, 5-6)
The word deacon is literally the word “servant.” It is the Greek word diakonos. That is the same root word we see in verse two, of which verse 3 says they are being appointed to that duty…to serve.
In the structure of the church, there are two offices the New Testament sets up for us. They are elder and deacon. You always see a plurality of elders leading a church and deacons assigned as official servants in the church. And each have specific qualifications. You shouldn’t pick just anyone for these positions. We see that here. The congregation has a part in ensuring that this important need is met—the serving of widows—by picking out seven men of “good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” To add to the importance of not neglecting the Hellenist widows, each of the seven men they chose had Greek names. That shows us, also, that deacons should be men that seek unity and peace.
I wonder how it felt to the widows? Based on my experience, I would like to think that they were a little taken back at first. They were used to the likes of Peter caring for them. After all, it was Peter people were carrying their sick to so that even his shadow would heal them. And now Nicanor’s giving me food? I don’t even know him! Prochorus is visiting me in the hospital? He’s not an apostle! Parmenas called me to see how I’m doing, but John didn’t. Do you see where I’m going with this?
The apostles delegated out an important task to godly men. It was so the people would be better cared for. This is the design for us. Care for one another, biblically, should come from within, not top down. Ministry of the Word and prayers should come from the top down.
This delegation and service also develops leaders. We will see two of these men again later in Acts—Stephen and Philip.
“The apostles’ act of delegation was supremely successful. Not only were the widows given good care, but two of the greatest New Testament saints came to full maturity and power under their new responsibilities. Stephen soon afterward preached his epic sermon before the Sanhedrin and became the first martyr of the Church. Philip had a multifaceted ministry as God transferred him from place to place…By divinely-directed delegation, the apostles not only freed others to grow in their service to God, but they freed themselves for prayer, preparation, and powerful preaching! Thus the spiritual ministry of the church was enhanced.”[6]
3) When God’s Word is prioritized and the body serves one another, the body grows. (7)
What was already a booming church continued to increase because they devoted themselves to God’s Word and didn’t let internal complaints destroy them. They instead served one another.
Would you take this message to heart and 1) pray for your church leaders; 2) pray about what actions you need to make to seek unity; 3) begin to prioritize the gospel in your own life.
[2] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), 334.
[3] 1 Cor 1:10; Eph 4:1-6; 1 Pet 3:8; Rom 12:16; Phil 2:2
[6] R. Kent Hughes, Acts, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1996), 96-7..
